wanderlust

Nat Lofthouse

Posts : 15655Join date : 2012-01-12

I agree the ST are behaving in an amateurish way but I think Ken should have put the ball firmly back in their court by doing his own valuation, working out a fair price for 10% (say £5 million for sake of argument) and agreeing to sell it to them when they come up with the money.

That way they can either shit or get off the pan. They won't be able to mouth off if they can't raise the money and if by any chance they can raise the money it's good much-needed investment for the club.

Sluffy

Unless I've missed something Iles has still not reported on Anderson's statement about the clubs finances and its relationship with the ST - even though it was posted over SEVEN HOURS ago.

I can't find anything that he's filed for the BN, he's not tweeted about it - even though he's been on twitter over two hours ago (or in other words 5 hours AFTER the announcement).

I can't find anything on his much publicised Facebook account (surely moving from twitter to FB is a retrograde step these days?) which seems to be deader than even Burnden Aces used to be!

Never the less he reported in the press about the winding up petitions without getting any comment about it from the club, and reported in full the ST's, shall we say blinkered views, as to their 'stance' on the position - watching "the club lurch from one crisis to another".

A view fully repudiated by Anderson and which led him to put the ST in its place by disclosing their farcical offer of £140,000 (which they haven't got in the first place) for 10% of the clubs total equity.

I've always liked Iles but he does seem (and more tellingly act) in cahoots with the ST's board members and the key individuals at the LoV, notably Manning and White Smurf (Ian Firth - who for the record states he lives down south and so is hardly in the inner circle of folks in the know of what is going on inside the club).

The ST and LoV have clearly been part of Holdsworth camp in the past and Iles is clearly also tainted by his ongoing association with them.

It's pretty clear Iles has little or no insider information from within the club and thus depends to a greater or lesser extent to what the ST and LoV feed him.

Once all the financial gubbins have finally been sorted out and as long as Anderson remains in charge thereafter, it would not surprise me one bit if Iles is distanced from the club in a similar manner as to how unwelcomed he was under Eddie Davies regime.

If so he's made his own rod for his back by being unable or unwilling to remain impartial from the 'ownership' desire of the ST board members and the 'click bait' revenue requirements of the LoV site.

Sluffy

We are aware that the Supporters Trust has today made a statement regarding the state of the finances at Bolton Wanderers and Burnden leisure.

We as the BWSA have never made any public statement before now regarding any of these issues, but feel at the moment we must now do so.

We do not pretend to know about the state of the finances behind the scenes, and can only rely on the information provided by Ken Anderson and his team.

All the communication points to them working currently to resolve the Blumarble situation, as this a barrier to real meaningful long term investment in the club.

Thus far his communication has been both regular and reliable in its content.

We feel this is a real breath of fresh air.

We are all painfully aware as you are, that the club has been in a perilous position to say the least for a number of years. However as it stands it would appear the current owners are doing all they can to put the club on a stable financial path for a long and successful future.

We do not believe therefore that this is the time to destabilise the club further, by raising concerns regarding its financial state, particularly without any actual concrete information to go on.

This is not only for the supporters, but the fantastic staff at BWFC.

We therefore would like to state that we fully support Ken and his team given the information we currently have, and hope that the plans they have for the short and long term of our club come to fruition.

We have decided to make this statement today purely because of the number of messages we have received and comments online and elsewhere confusing the BWSA and the supporters trust.

Please visit our website at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] or our Facebook and Twitter pages for more information on what we do.

Kane57

Tony Kelly

Posts : 584Join date : 2013-01-31

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:Unless I've missed something Iles has still not reported on Anderson's statement about the clubs finances and its relationship with the ST - even though it was posted over SEVEN HOURS ago.

I can't find anything that he's filed for the BN, he's not tweeted about it - even though he's been on twitter over two hours ago (or in other words 5 hours AFTER the announcement).

I can't find anything on his much publicised Facebook account (surely moving from twitter to FB is a retrograde step these days?) which seems to be deader than even Burnden Aces used to be!

Never the less he reported in the press about the winding up petitions without getting any comment about it from the club, and reported in full the ST's, shall we say blinkered views, as to their 'stance' on the position - watching "the club lurch from one crisis to another".

A view fully repudiated by Anderson and which led him to put the ST in its place by disclosing their farcical offer of £140,000 (which they haven't got in the first place) for 10% of the clubs total equity.

I've always liked Iles but he does seem (and more tellingly act) in cahoots with the ST's board members and the key individuals at the LoV, notably Manning and White Smurf (Ian Firth - who for the record states he lives down south and so is hardly in the inner circle of folks in the know of what is going on inside the club).

The ST and LoV have clearly been part of Holdsworth camp in the past and Iles is clearly also tainted by his ongoing association with them.

It's pretty clear Iles has little or no insider information from within the club and thus depends to a greater or lesser extent to what the ST and LoV feed him.

Once all the financial gubbins have finally been sorted out and as long as Anderson remains in charge thereafter, it would not surprise me one bit if Iles is distanced from the club in a similar manner as to how unwelcomed he was under Eddie Davies regime.

If so he's made his own rod for his back by being unable or unwilling to remain impartial from the 'ownership' desire of the ST board members and the 'click bait' revenue requirements of the LoV site.

Sluffy

Admin

Posts : 14422Join date : 2011-12-29

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:Ken gives them access to players, use of a suite at the club and loads of publicity - would be a shock if they came down on the side of anyone who was anti-Anderson.

The BWSA predates Anderson by many years.

They are in fact the clubs 'official' fan club and have been in existence for decades.

It has nothing at all to do with which 'camp' the might be in or what 'agenda' they might be holding.

They all have the best interests of the club at heart and have never been interested in playing club politics in anyway at all.

They have been lampooned by some in the past as being old fashioned and 'werther' eaters but they are life long supporters and have watched more Wanderers matches than you or I have in our time.

Probably not exciting enough for you but all are decent people who love the club and aren't in it for themselves.

It therefore speaks volumes when they've had to go to the trouble of making a public announcement - their first one ever I would imagine - to distance themselves from the dealings and actions of the Supporters Trust.

Last edited by Sluffy on Thu May 11 2017, 23:33; edited 1 time in total

Kane57

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:Ken gives them access to players, use of a suite at the club and loads of publicity - would be a shock if they came down on the side of anyone who was anti-Anderson.

The BWSA predates Anderson by many years.

They are in fact the clubs 'official' fan club and have been in existence for decades.

It has nothing at all to do with which 'camp' the might be in or what 'agenda' they might be holding.

They all have the best interests of the club at heart and have never been interested in playing club politics in anyway at all.

They have been lampooned by some in the past as being old fashioned and 'werther' eaters but they are life long supporters and have watched more Wanderers matches than you or I have in our time.

Probably not exciting enough for you but all are decent people who love the club and aren't in it for themselves.

All true, but as the old saying goes, you shouldn't shit where you eat.

Sluffy

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:Ken gives them access to players, use of a suite at the club and loads of publicity - would be a shock if they came down on the side of anyone who was anti-Anderson.

The BWSA predates Anderson by many years.

They are in fact the clubs 'official' fan club and have been in existence for decades.

It has nothing at all to do with which 'camp' the might be in or what 'agenda' they might be holding.

They all have the best interests of the club at heart and have never been interested in playing club politics in anyway at all.

They have been lampooned by some in the past as being old fashioned and 'werther' eaters but they are life long supporters and have watched more Wanderers matches than you or I have in our time.

Probably not exciting enough for you but all are decent people who love the club and aren't in it for themselves.

All true, but as the old saying goes, you shouldn't shit where you eat.

What are you on about?

The BWSA are not playing any games at all, they just clearly want to be completely disassociated from the deeds and actions of the Supporters Trust, at least whilst under the current ST board.

Going off topic for a moment, have you seen the poll on Wanderers Ways in respect of the ST?

Over a 100 votes cast so far with 3% in support of the ST and 97% against the current management of it!

Sluffy

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:I don't blame them for voting that way at all.

The importance of having a Trust remains as key as ever, but this sort of ambition has come far too soon in its existence.

As for BWSA, their step is an obvious one - keeps Ken on side whilst, I would hope, echoing the thoughts of their members. Something the Trust haven't done with their actions.

I honestly think you are barking up the wrong tree as to why the BWSA have made their statement.

It has nothing at all to do with keeping Anderson sweet and everything to do with wanting to be seen as quite separate (and distance themselves) from the ST and the hostility and negativity they have brought upon themselves.

Many people are thinking that BWSA and BWST are the same thing - they are not - and never will be. The former being an 'official' body of the club and the later being a completely independent organisation ostensibly established as the fans voice.

Something they are clearly not.

I personally don't put much store in the reason for being of an ST.

I know I'm in a minority on this view but I've never been one for simply following the crowd.

At the end of the day even a ST can not save a club from going under unless they themselves are in a financial position to do so.

At the moment the ST can't even find enough to sort out some funds for a bit of work that needs doing at the training ground let alone pay a current months wages at the club.

Until they are substantially better funded or the board is removed and replaced by people who are able to bring in substantially more money than the current muppets can - and quite frankly more professional in their manner and dealings - then BWFCST is simply not fit for purpose in my opinion.

Just my view though, obviously and I respect you and others who may hold a contrary one to that.

boltonbonce

Dear Members

In accordance with our model rules, BWFCST is beginning the process of holding our annual elections to the Board and arranging an AGM which we hope will take place in September.

The rules require at least 3 Board members will resign and stand for re-election, if they wish to.

In accordance with these rules and due to a change in his personal circumstances, our Chairman Ian Bridge, has decided to step down now, instead of waiting until the election.

We are extremely disappointed at this news, Ian is of course a founder member and has worked tirelessly forming and establishing the Trust for the last 18 months and his contribution to our success is immeasurable.

We would like to take this opportunity on behalf of all our members to formally thank him for all his efforts and wish him and his family all the very best in the future. Hopefully we can call on him from time to time to lend his experience as the trust moves forward.

We would also like to urge all members who feel they can contribute in any way, to put themselves forward for election to the Board or to make themselves available to any of the working groups to help move the trust on to the next level.

We will be making further announcements about the elections and the AGM in the coming weeks

Sluffy

It is solely as a final backstop to stay a club going bust when everything else has failed and there is nothing of worth left.

Once that position is reached it has the chance to raise some funds or attract some wealthy benefactor to put up some money perhaps in the tens or hundreds of thousands - maybe a million or two at best - to be able to fund the club as a going concern at a league level that it can be financially viable and competitive in - ie in the lower leagues/non league level.

It is not there to tell club owners how to run their clubs, tell them what to do with their money or demand (or even ask nicely) in a say in the club.

From day one the ST have misled people as to what it is they are there for and people have simply believed them.

Nobody in any business is going to hand over power to a consumer group - Has Bill Gates said 'I know a lot of people use my Microsoft products so I'm giving the Microsoft Supporters Trust a place on my board' - no he's not. Neither have the people who own Tesco's or Disney, or British Airways or any other company - so why do some people believe things are different because it is about a football club they support???

The ST has never been realistic under the people who founded it since minute one and until people finally grasp what it is really there for then it will never be a success because it simply can't deliver anything other than what its purpose is for.

boltonbonce

Nat Lofthouse

Posts : 20616Join date : 2013-10-05Age : 65Location : The garden shed

They were offered a chance to help the club,and, in my opinion,they should have grabbed it with both hands. Coming back with 'what's in it for us',was a big mistake.I didn't join the ST to become a part owner of BWFC. I,like many others joined because I wanted to give something back to the club I've supported all my life,and unless they change tack pretty radically,the ST are going to bite the dust.I wish them well,because I think they can do a job. But things must change.

boltonbonce

Nat Lofthouse

Posts : 20616Join date : 2013-10-05Age : 65Location : The garden shed

Trust Meeting 20th June 2017

As reported in the Bolton News, the Trust Board held a meeting last week at the Macron Stadium. The main purpose of the meeting was to speak with interested parties about being co-opted to the Board on an interim basis until elections are held in the Autumn following the resignation of two Board members.

There has been some criticism of this meeting not being widely publicised. We did consider this but when we held a similar open event at the end of last year and sent the invitation out to the membership, none of those who attended went on to offer their services. With this in mind, we decided on this occasion to invite a number of people who have engaged with us regularly over a long period of time and have therefore gained an insight into the workings of the Trust and those of us that run the organisation. Those in attendance shared their views on the work of the Trust to date and how we shape policy, new initiatives and our relationship with the club going forward into the new season. It was a very constructive meeting and as a result, two new Board members have been appointed. These are Roger Allanson of Allansons Solicitors and Adrian Taylor of Cheetham Hill Construction. If any member has any questions on this then do please get in touch.

Trust Meeting with the Chairman 28th June 2017

A meeting was held with the Chairman Ken Anderson, Paul Aldridge and Head of Marketing and Communications, Paul Holliday. The Trust's two new Board members were introduced and discussions took place about how the Trust and club management can work together more closely for the benefit of BWFC and the fans. A variety of ideas were discussed including, sponsorship of young players, possible resumption of the Fanzone and how we might make this work, the Safe Standing initiative, WIFI in the ground, and regular fans' forums. The Trust and club are now looking at the feasibility of the issues discussed and we will report further on these in due course.

Interview with Tower FM

Listen out for an interview with Trust acting Chairman Daniel Izza on Tower FM tonight from 8pm.

Sluffy

Admin

Posts : 14422Join date : 2011-12-29

I've just discovered that the official Bolton Nuts Twitter account has been blocked by Izza the new ST Chairman presumably because I've referred to some of the disparaging tweets he's made of the club owner Ken Anderson in the past!

We've never had direct contact with him on twitter in the past nor have we made comment about him to others via twitter.

The only remarks made about Izza on Nuts refer to the factual tweets he has made about Anderson.

So much for someone who is the current Chairman of an organisation that promised fans that they would open and honest about things!

boltonbonce

Nat Lofthouse

Posts : 20616Join date : 2013-10-05Age : 65Location : The garden shed

No wonder I missed it.

BWFCST on Bolton FM from 8pm This EveningJust a correction to our earlier email. Our Trust acting Chairman Daniel Izza with be speaking on Bolton FM this evening from 8pm, not Tower FM as previously stated.

Norpig

As reported in the Bolton News, the Trust Board held a meeting last week at the Macron Stadium. The main purpose of the meeting was to speak with interested parties about being co-opted to the Board on an interim basis until elections are held in the Autumn following the resignation of two Board members.

There has been some criticism of this meeting not being widely publicised. We did consider this but when we held a similar open event at the end of last year and sent the invitation out to the membership, none of those who attended went on to offer their services. With this in mind, we decided on this occasion to invite a number of people who have engaged with us regularly over a long period of time and have therefore gained an insight into the workings of the Trust and those of us that run the organisation. Those in attendance shared their views on the work of the Trust to date and how we shape policy, new initiatives and our relationship with the club going forward into the new season. It was a very constructive meeting and as a result, two new Board members have been appointed. These are Roger Allanson of Allansons Solicitors and Adrian Taylor of Cheetham Hill Construction. If any member has any questions on this then do please get in touch.

Trust Meeting with the Chairman 28th June 2017

A meeting was held with the Chairman Ken Anderson, Paul Aldridge and Head of Marketing and Communications, Paul Holliday. The Trust's two new Board members were introduced and discussions took place about how the Trust and club management can work together more closely for the benefit of BWFC and the fans. A variety of ideas were discussed including, sponsorship of young players, possible resumption of the Fanzone and how we might make this work, the Safe Standing initiative, WIFI in the ground, and regular fans' forums. The Trust and club are now looking at the feasibility of the issues discussed and we will report further on these in due course.

Interview with Tower FM

Listen out for an interview with Trust acting Chairman Daniel Izza on Tower FM tonight from 8pm.

Sluffy

Izza (who may I remind everyone has blocked our twitter account because I referred to his disparaging tweets in regard to the club owner Ken Anderson - so much for honesty and integrity from him) spoke for some time and presented a new more amenable face of the ST but it was the things he didn't say that belies his true feelings.

He wittered on about possibly funding kit for the academy, running the Fan Zone, broadening out the Board to be more inclusive than just the old Steering Group members, etc but what he didn't say was that he and at least two of the other steering group buddies will still be on the board following the next elections and that they will still hold sway over the ST's overall direction.

Although he said Anderson had done a good job in keeping the club afloat he frequently mentioned that (in my words) the ST still had their beady eye on him so he would not get up to no good.

He was also very negative regarding any possible future owners and stated stupid stuff such as he would rather us remain struggling in the lower leagues than be doing a Southampton (comfortable mid table club which is financially secure) in the Premier League rather than play our games in a red strip.

He mentioned that survey's would be sent out to give him a mandate forward.

Survey's are extremely scientific and experts are needed in order not to bias the questions in order to give you the answers you want. An example of that being in the last survey where it ask people how much they would give to gain an ownership of the club a) 0-£100 b) £101 - £500 c) £501 or more (or something like that). From that the ST claimed its members wanted an element of club ownership - remember the £140,000 (they hadn't got) for 10% of the club they offered recently!

Nowhere on the questionnaire was there an option for people to say they didn't want to become owners of the club.

Maybe if it had asked that question instead of following it's own dream of playing at club owners the ST wouldn't have gone down that path to make such a ridiculous offer!

Issa is on public record of not trusting Anderson. Issa clearly imo aims to be the ST's Chairman and lead it for the next 12 months - so my conclusion is that Anderson will keep him well away from anything to do with the club unless it is on his terms (maybe let them buy the youth team kit or similar) and that nothing more than superficial changes will be made at the ST.

Make your own minds up though by listening at the link above.

PS The Stockport striker he was thinking about was Kevin Francis and not of course Kevin Davies.

boltonbonce

Nat Lofthouse

Posts : 20616Join date : 2013-10-05Age : 65Location : The garden shed

Why would anyone distrust Ken?

Bolton Wanderers new chairman Ken Anderson,a former football agent, was disqualified as a company director from 2005 until 2013 for transgressions including diverting company funds into personal accounts, VAT discrepancies and failure to cooperate with receivers. The Football League say Anderson passed their owners and directors test because his sentence has been servedIt would appear that anyone can pass their test.

Sluffy

Admin

Posts : 14422Join date : 2011-12-29

Why wouldn't anybody not trust Ken, after all he must be the most monitored and scrutinised club chairman in the league with the FL constantly watching him, so too the 'self appointed' of the ST and every single Wanderers fan world wide.

Do you honestly think he will get up to no good in front of that crowd?

Need I also remind people of the business record of the last Chairman of the ST - which didn't stop the current Chairman backing him to the hilt!

boltonbonce

Nat Lofthouse

Posts : 20616Join date : 2013-10-05Age : 65Location : The garden shed

To be fair to Anderson,I think he's done a pretty good job under very difficult circumstances,and it'd be churlish not to acknowledge that fact.My distrust is instinctive. I have the same instinct with regard to the powers that be at the ST,which is why I post their emails for all to see.If you'd rather I didn't post them,I'd gladly accede.

Sluffy

Admin

Posts : 14422Join date : 2011-12-29

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:To be fair to Anderson,I think he's done a pretty good job under very difficult circumstances,and it'd be churlish not to acknowledge that fact.My distrust is instinctive. I have the same instinct with regard to the powers that be at the ST,which is why I post their emails for all to see.If you'd rather I didn't post them,I'd gladly accede.

I'm more than happy enough to read what the ST is saying - indeed I'm sure all non ST members are also.

I personally would have thought that the ST themselves could have put up newsletters like this on their own website news section to spread the word of what they are doing beyond that of their own existing followers but the last item they posted up was congratulating everybody for promotion apart from the club owner!

Check it out if you don't believe me.

In fact I myself promote the ST cause far more than they do, even today I've put a link up to Izza's radio interview, to allow people to judge what he said for themselves.

They have tweeted the link themselves but it's hard lines to anyone who doesn't follow them on twitter or facebook I guess.